Tidal wheel



WV. E. BooK-ABM. lTIDAL WHEEL. Patente-d Sept. 29, v1896.

(No Mgde'l.)

Izzi/111014 gitudinal plane of the trunk.

UNITED STAT-EsI -ATENT Fries.

NVILLIAM E. BOORAEM, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

TIDAL WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 568,33, dated September29, 1896.

Application filed December 20, 1895. Serial No. 572,748. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. BOORAEM, of Brooklyn, New York, haveinvented a certain Improvement in Tidal Vheels, 'of which the followingis a specification.

This invention consists of a water-wheel, preferably of the turbinetype, mounted upon a vertical shaft in the middle of a horizontal trunkopen at its ends and provided on each side of the wheel with adeflecting-plate swinging upon a vertical axis which is adjacent to theperiphery of the wheel in the central lonrlhe trunk is intended to besubmerged in a tidal current. Each deflecting-plate has a range ofswinging motion extending from one side of the trunk to a stop whicharrests the plate when its free extremity has reached a point not quitehalf-way across the trunk, so that by a current flowing into either endof the trunk the deliecting-plate at that end is swung .over against theside of the trunk, and is thereby caused to direct the entire currentagainst one side of the wheel. The plate in the end of the trunk fromwhich the current flows outward is forced t-o swing away from the sideof the trunk against which its free end previously bore, and is made tooccupy a position in which it is substantially parallel with theoutgoing current. Thus the cross-area of the space afforded for theoutiiow of water from the wheel is at least twice the cross-area of thecurrent supplied to the wheel. As the deiiecting-plate at one end of thetrunk directs the nood-tidal current against one side of the wheel andthe deflecting-plate at the other end of the trunk deflects theebb-tidal current against the other side of the Wheel, the direction ofrotation of the wheel is the same during both tides.

The accompanying drawings of a horizontal trunk containing a turbineWheel and provided with deflecting-plates on either side of the wheelare as follows:

Figure l is a top 'view with portions of the cover removed to show theinterior construction. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal verticalsection.

The drawings represent a horizontal trunk a, which will usually beprovided with a cover l); Midway between the ends of the trunk is awater-wheel c, preferably of the turbine type and composed of theparallel horizon tal disks c c2, between which is the system cS ofcurved paddles. The disks c' c2 are secured to the vertical shaft d, thelower end of which is suitably stepped in a bearing d' at the bottom ofthe trunk, and which` is also provided with a bearing d2 in the top orcover of the trunk, or, if the trunk is not covered, in a cross-timberd3, bolted at its opposite ends to the side walls a a2 of the trunk.

On one side of the wheel is a delectingplate c, affixed to the verticalrock-shaft e', provided at its lower end with the bearing c2 at thebottom of the trunk and at its upper end with the bearing e3 inthe topof the trunk,

or in the cross-timber c4, bolted at its opposite ends to the side wallsCL a2 of the trunk if the cover is omitted. The free end of the plate cmay be formed with the curve c5, presenting its convex side to thecurrent flowing into the end of the trunk in which the plate e islocated, as represented in solid lines in Fig. l; or the curve c5 may beomitted if the stop e6 be so placed as to prevent the free extremity ofthe plate e from quite reaching the middle of the trunk. the effect ofthe inflowing current, the direction of which is indicated by the systeme7 of arrows on Fig. 1, the free end of the plate e is swung laterallyagainst the side wall a of the trunk.

The deecting-plate f on the other side of the wheel is aixed to thevertical rock-shaft f', provided at its lower end with the bearing f2 atthe bottom of the trunk, and provided at its upper end with the bearingf3 in the top of the trunk, or otherwise in the crosstimber f4, affixedat its opposite ends to the side walls a a of the trunk. The free end ofthe plate f may also be formed with a curve, as represented in dottedlines in Fig. l; or, if the plate f is flat, as represented in solidlines in Fig. l, the stop f6 is so located as to prevent the freeextremity of the plate f from quite reaching the middle of the trunk, sothat in either case the effect of inward currents willbe to swing thefree end of the plate f against the side wall a2 of the trunk.

In Fig. l the plate f is represented in the position which it is made toassume by the outflowing current from the wheel, the di- In either case,by,

IOO

rection of which is indicated by the system f7 oli' arrows. 3y theoutward current the plate fis thrown against the stop f". Similarly,when the direction of the current is reversed from that shown in Fig. l,the plate e is thrown against the stop e6. lVhether thedeiiecting-plates are fiat from end to end or provided with the curvedportions shown, the stops e and f serve to arrest the swinging motionsof the plates before their free extremities reach the middle of thetrunk, so that in either case the inflowing current strikes against thewhole or some part of the surface of the deiiecting-plate at an acuteangle, and hence rocks the plate away from its stop and against theadjacent wall of the trunk.

The wheel is rotated by the pressure upon its paddles of the currentiiowing through it. It will be seen that by the operation -of thedetlecting-plates the cross-area of the space ailorded for theouti'lowof water from the wheel is substantially double the cross-area oi' thecurrent discharged into the wheel, which secures the :most efficientaction of the current in eitectin g the rotation of the wheel.

In Fig. l the current is represented by the system of arrows as flowingfrom right to left, and it will of course be perceived thata currentilowing in the opposite direction, that is,fro1n left to right, willsimply reverse the position of the deiecting-plates, and that hence thewheel will always be rotated in the same direction, irrespectively ofthe direction ot' the current.

It is not essentialthat the trunk shall be covered, and it is to beunderstood that a horizontal sluiee, open at its top and its ends andprovided with the necessary cross-timbers, is the equivalent of thetrunk.

That is claimed as the invention isl. A horizontal trunk open at itsends and adapted for subinergenee in a tideway; awater-wheel within thetrunk mounted upon a vertical shaft extending upwardly above the top ofthe trunk for transmitting the power due to the rotation of the wheel,and two dei'lectingplates, one mounted upon a vertical rock-shaft midwaybetween the sides of the trunk and in proximity to one side of thewater-wheel, and extending from the said rock-shaft outwardly toward oneend of the trunk, and the other mounted in like man ner upon a verticalrock-shaft midway between the sides of tlietrunk and in proximity to theother side of the wheel, and extending outwardly from the saidrock-shaft toward the other end oi the trunk, substantially asdescribed.

2. A water-wheel mounted upon a vertical.

shaft; a horizontal trunk in which said water wheel is contained;deflecting plates swinging on vertical axes-in proximity to the oppositesides of the wheel, the saidaxes lying in the central-verticallongitudinal-plane of the trunk, two stops, the one on one side of onedetlecting-plate, and the other on the other side of theotherdetlecting-plate,for so limiting the range of movement of saiddei'lecting-plates as to prevent either of their free extremities fromreaching the central longitudinal plane of the trunk, .whereby thecross-area of the current delivered to `the wheelis approximately only0ne-half of the cross-area of the space afforded by the outtlowin gcurrent from the wheel irrespectively of the direction of the currenttlowin through the trunk.

XV. E. BOORAEM. lVitnesses:

E. GATTERER, HELEN L. BLONDEL.

